The government is preparing to bring together key systems used to check academic qualifications as it seeks to make it harder for people using fake certificates to enter the public service or secure positions of responsibility.
Head of Public Service and Chief of Staff Felix Koskei led discussions on Thursday between the Public Service Commission, Kenya National Examinations Council and Ministry of Education on how the agencies can connect their systems and improve the way academic documents are authenticated.
The meeting, held at State House in Nairobi, examined ways of creating a coordinated process for checking certificates and other academic papers submitted by people seeking jobs and appointments.
The proposed integration is expected to allow recruiting agencies to compare qualifications against official records held by education and examination authorities, making it easier to establish whether documents are genuine and were properly issued.
“The Government is working to protect the integrity of recruitment processes and promote professionalism and competence across the Public Service and the wider workforce,” the Head of Public Service stated.
Public Service Commission Chairperson Francis Meja said bringing the verification and authentication systems together would help safeguard recruitment from applicants who use false academic qualifications.
Meja said the initiative would further support professionalism, competence and merit in the public service as well as across the wider workforce.
The discussions follow years of concern over forged academic certificates being used in Kenya, particularly when individuals apply for employment or seek professional and other appointments.
The government has in recent years increased efforts to confirm academic qualifications, with the Kenya National Examinations Council playing a key role in checking examination results and certificates.
The new approach is intended to reduce the reliance on separate verification processes by bringing the agencies involved in examinations, education and recruitment into a more connected system.
According to the government, stronger checks on academic credentials would increase public trust in recruitment and help ensure that individuals appointed to positions of responsibility have genuine and properly authenticated qualifications.
Those present at the State House meeting included Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Migos Ogamba, Public Service Commission Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Paul Famba, Kenya National Examinations Council Chairperson Prof Julius O. Nyabundi and Kenya National Examinations Council Chief Executive Officer Dr David Njeng’ere.
Principal Secretaries Dr Beatrice Inyangala of Higher Education and Research, John Ololtuaa of Basic Education, and Prof Jane Imbunya of Public Service and Human Capital Development also attended.
The discussions brought together institutions that oversee examinations, education and public-sector recruitment at a time when the government is seeking to improve human-resource management and accountability within the public service.
The proposed system would rely on official information held by relevant examination and education authorities when checking academic qualifications. Recruiting institutions would therefore have a more dependable basis for determining whether certificates and other documents submitted by applicants match official records.
The government has not disclosed the technical details of how the systems will be connected or provided a timeline for the rollout of the proposed arrangement.
The planned integration could also affect processes outside the public service because academic qualifications are commonly used to determine eligibility for employment, professional progression and appointment to different positions.
The government hopes that tighter checks at the recruitment stage will reduce cases where people obtain jobs or appointments using forged or improperly acquired academic qualifications.
The Public Service Commission, Kenya National Examinations Council and Ministry of Education will be central to efforts to develop a more coordinated national system for authenticating academic certificates and qualifications.